Mental health literacy about depression among rural left-behind children in China: a comparative and cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background

Mental health literacy (MHL) is vital for raising mental health awareness, reducing stigma, and improving health-related decision making, which may have lifelong consequences for patients with mental disorders.

Aims

To examine MHL about depression among rural left-behind children (LBC) in China and explore differences between LBC and non-left-behind children (NLBC).

Methods

A total of 3456 rural school children (mean age = 13.02 years) in fourth to ninth grades who were living in Sichuan, Anhui, and Henan provinces were surveyed in April and July 2018 using stratified random cluster sampling.

Results

More NLBC correctly recognized depression compared with LBC (p < 0.05). The most common sources of mental health information were the TV and the Internet. LBC felt more uneasy if they asked for help (p < 0.01). Statistical differences in help-seeking barriers were observed between LBC and NLBC (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

Respondents showed low levels of depression-related MHL compared with peer groups in other countries, LBC showed lower MHL than NLBC in terms of the correct recognition rate of depression, attitude toward seeking help, etc. More school-based interventions should be implemented in rural schools, and parent involvement and digital-based educational strategies should be considered.

Keywords:

• China
• depression
• left-behind children
• mental health literacy

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the following people for their contributions to this study: Ms. Xia Mei and Mr. Wang Zhen-fu for supporting the investigation in Sichuan Province; Mr. Yao Shao-wei, Mr. Chen Wan-neng, Mr. Sun Xue-dong, Mr. Bo Fang-peng, and Ms. Zhang Ying for investigation in Anhui Province; and Mr. Wang Shi-kang for data management. One of the authors would also like to thank her husband Pan Ting-long for taking care of the family and supporting her during the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Key Project of Anhui Provincial Department of Education Fund [SK2018A0177, SK2017A0198] and the Ministry of Education Humanities and Social Sciences Research Project Youth Foundation of China [17YJC840033].